My Promiscuous Neighbor

No matter how I thought about it, it was awkward.Though, that's not to say it wasn't possible.The next day, I watched the note stuck to the ornamental flowers next to the door of my building. It read, "Suppress Your Desires."I smiled.The decorators my mother had hired turned up later that day. Luckily, I just so happened to be going away on business.I begged them to work through the night. I told them it was urgent and paid them extra to do it.After all the trouble Mr. Satyriasis had caused me, it was the least I could do in return....I stared in shock.Why was Mr. Satyriasis sitting at the head of the meeting room table?It turned out that he was the voice actor my animation studio was hoping to work with.This all seemed like way too much of a coincidence.Fortunately, having hidden the second I heard him come to the door the night before, he had no way to recognize me. Otherwise, we would probably have had to find someone else."Hello, I'm Brook Sierra."It was clear he was

My heart went out to my shattered collectibles, but if losing them was the price I had to pay for restoring my reputation, then it was more than worth it.I located the résumé I'd sent when applying to the other company and checked the materials I'd attached.Sure enough, the offending character designs were in there.At the time, the company had said my proposed outlines weren't good enough, yet they'd clearly gone on to use them without changing a thing....Not only did Brook insist on compensating me for the broken collectibles, but he also contacted my manager and provided him with irrefutable proof that I hadn't plagiarized a thing.Perhaps spurred into action by fear of being accused of having done nothing, my studio's PR department finally refuted the rumors and filed suit against the other company for using my work without permission.Trevor seemed less than happy to see me exonerated, announcing in our office group chat, "We're about to launch an open beta for our new charact

After Brook and his cat had entered my living room, I took a quick glance outside, half expecting his girlfriend to come running up red-faced, preparing to chew me out.Surely, she wouldn't have left him over the rumors that me and him were having an affair, would she?He'd come over here—bringing his emotional support cat—without even stopping to dry his hair. He was probably desperate for me to give him an explanation."What are you doing in the doorway?"I turned around to find them sitting on my sofa, having obviously made themselves at home.His cat was staring at me, as though to say, "You'd better bring my Mommy home.""Don't worry, I'll find a way to clear this all up. How about I pay a visit to your girlfriend and explain things myself? I'm sure she'll understand."Brook looked confused. His hand, which had been combing through his hair, stopped still. He appeared to be mulling something over.Did he think I wasn't being sincere?"Or you could give her a call and I can explain

There was a slight hint of amusement in my mom's tone. "I keep telling you to come home and take over the business. Steven's been wanting to hand it over for a while. How come you're suddenly open to 'using your connections'?""Because someone has been using their connections to make trouble for me. I've decided to fight fire with fire."Anyway, if the company's already in my name, then I have work to do. Goodbye, Mommy."I ended the call, turned around, and headed back into the studio.Those inside were still having a good old chuckle. Well, I'd give them something to laugh about.When they saw me return, Eugene was the first to start gloating, "What are you doing back here? I thought you'd quit.""I thought I'd come back to let you know you're fired. This is my company, after all.""Did you hit your head when you fell just now?""Why don't you take a look for yourselves? I'm sure you can use your phones to check whose name this company is under."They took out their phones, still lau

The rumors about me didn't stop doing the rounds on the internet.But with the people behind them now locked behind bars, I felt a lot better.Quentin was given the death penalty and asked to see me once more before his sentence was carried out.I went, accompanied by Clint. Quentin looked at me through the glass."Death won't keep me away from you. I was so good to you, but now I'm going to die by your hand. It's a sick joke. What did I do to deserve this?""Quentin, being good is more than just serving yourself. You were paranoid and extreme. As soon as you locked me up like a bird in a gilded cage, I knew there was no real love between us, only your obsession with control. You wouldn't recognize what good is if it slapped you in the face."...My company's new game was finally released.In part, thanks to the earlier controversies, there was a far bigger buzz around this game than we'd originally expected.The police also publicly commended me and my company.Shortly after release,